The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) awarded IRWD the Public Outreach and Education Award for its innovative student water education programs.  The award was accepted on August 21 by IRWD Board Vice President Peer Swan at the 55^th annual CASA conference in Monterey, California.

IRWD’s commitment to community and student education is boundless. IRWD has conducted free water education programs for schools in our service area for more than 30 years. For the past three years, IRWD has partnered with the Discovery Science Center to provide programs for kindergarten through high school students in area public, private or home schools. More than 8,000 students participated in the program during the 2009-10 school year.

IRWD’s education programs meet all California curriculum content standards while bringing water education to life for our students. Kindergarten through sixth grade students participate in grade-specific assembly programs focusing on water science and conservation. All assemblies stress the importance of conserving limited resources and preventing water pollution. Student participation is encouraged with the use of individual student response keypads  and customized workbooks featuring IRWD’s beloved mascot, Aqua Duck.

Middle school students in sixth through eighth grade participate in a four-week class of hands-on water chemistry and environmental lessons culminating with a field trip and tour of the IRWD San Joaquin Marsh and the Michelson Water Recycling Plant.

Students participating in the high school program can earn community service credit by learning to teach younger students, their families and community members about water and resource-related topics through interactive games, hands-on demonstrations and short lectures. Students demonstrate their skills at community education events called Wild About the Wetlands, held at the IRWD Marsh Campus three times throughout the school year.

More information about IRWD’s student water education and community outreach programs is available by calling (949) 453-5500 and visiting www.irwd.com.

IRWD’s budget based rate structure rewards customers for their efficient use of water with some of the lowest rates in Orange County. If you’re paying over-budget charges on your water bill, it not only causes sticker shock, but it signals a problem.

High water bills occur for a variety of reasons – over irrigation, undetected leaks, malfunctioning appliances, dripping faucets or the incorrect number of residents or landscape size on file with IRWD. Our goal is to provide you with enough water to meet your daily living needs. IRWD staff is available to help you determine the cause of your high water use and work with you toward a resolution. If you have checked for leaks, reset your irrigation timers and ruled out any other reasons causing a high water bill, it might be time to determine if you qualify for a variance, or increase in your budget.

Water bugets for a typical single-family home provide enough water for four people and 1,300 square-feet of landscape. In condominiums or town homes, the budget provides enough water for three people and 435 square-feet of landscape. Standard apartment budgets provide enough water for two people and no landscape.

If you have additional people living in your home, your landscaped area is larger, you have special medical needs or are a license care facility, applying for a variance is simple. Log onto www.irwd.com/customer-care/billing-questionsand print out the variance request form. Just return the completed form along with the required documentation to our Customer Service Department.

For further details, call Customer Service at (949) 453-5300 or email customerservice@irwd.com.

All repairs have been completed and operations are back to normal at IRWD's Newport Coast Lift Station located on Newport Coast Drive between Vista Ridge Road and Ridge Park Road in Newport Beach. Residents may continue to see IRWD crews on location until Monday, August 23 as they put the finishing touches on repairing the sidewalk, curbs, gutters and pavement.

Contact: Shannon Reed, Public Affairs manager
reeds@irwd.com, (949) 453-550

As work progresses on the San Diego Creek Flood Protection Improvement wall at the IRWD San Joaquin Marsh located in Irvine, we ask for your patience in taking detours around the construction area.

The Riparian View portion of the road from Campus Drive to the entry gate of the San Joaquin Marsh Campus is off limits to pedestrians and bicyclists while construction of the wall continues. Detour signs have been posted for your safety.

In the marsh, access is limited to portions of the Fledgling Loop Trail. Areas closed off are marked with orange mesh construction barriers. Work on the flood wall is expected to continue until October.

This fall, access to the marsh off Riparian View from Michelson Drive will be temporarily closed and visitors will be directed to use an alternate entrance from Campus Drive during construction.

Please visit www.irwd.com for construction and marsh access information.